The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has awarded a grant to the Cong Ly Construction-Trade-Tourism Company Ltd. to develop a 300-megawatt (MW) wind power project in Vietnam.
The feasibility study grant will assist Cong Ly Ltd., a private sector firm that operates the only offshore wind project in Vietnam, in its efforts to develop a third phase of the Bac Lieu Wind Farm.
Commercial operation for Phase I of the Bac Lieu Wind Farm, which uses ten U.S.-manufactured wind turbines from General Electric that generate approximately 16 MW of power, commenced in August 2013.
For Phase III, the feasibility study will assist Cong Ly Ltd. in expanding this wind farm through the examination of the technical challenges that arise from an offshore location. The study will include a wind resource and energy assessment, a review of permitting and land control issues, an electrical grid interconnection and foundation design, construction cost estimates, and a financing plan.
This project is a key deliverable of the U.S.-Asia Pacific Comprehensive Energy Partnership (USACEP), a whole-of-government initiative that seeks to build U.S. business engagement in the region’s clean energy development, while stimulating infrastructure and grid improvements.
In 2013, USTDA brought wind power project developers to the United States to meet with U.S. wind turbine manufacturers and the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
Cong Ly Ltd. was one of those companies, and in December 2014, Cong Ly Ltd. signed a contract for over 50 General Electric turbines with financing from Ex-Im Bank for Phase II of the Bac Lieu Wind Farm.
Image: GE